摘 要

   阿瑟•米勒的代表作《推销员之死》（1947）集中表现了主人公威利•罗曼，一个现代美国人在家庭与工作中的纠结人生，在社会及社会道德的压力下，威利•罗曼试图把自己从身体和精神的压抑中解脱出来，然而他所做的一切都是徒劳，最终还是走向了死亡。该剧展现了个体与家庭和美国社会价值观之间的矛盾和冲突，剖析了人们因迷信美国梦所付出的代价。
   尽管生活在一个充斥着令人窒息的现代文明的艰难世界中，但是威利似乎从来都没有觉察到这一点，而是一直生活在幻想与谎言之中，终日梦想着成功。然而这些梦想都在他的幻觉中被一一放大，最后没有一个成真。威利用来衡量自己所谓的成功的标准没有别的只有物质财富，当悲剧降临到自己身上的时候，他无法面对现实，最终选择了自杀。事实上，威利仅仅只是成千上万普通美国人的一个缩影。
   本篇文章在第一章节简单介绍了美国著名戏剧家阿瑟•米勒及他的相关重要作品和主要成就，其次介绍了《推销员之死》这部作品的主要内容和它的重要文学地位，同时在文献综述中概括了众多学者对这一作品的研究和对本篇文章的影响。第二章分析了威利•罗曼的美国梦，在物欲横流的社会背景下，他仍怀抱过去的价值观念，幻想成为一位备受社会认可的现代成功商业人士。在美国梦的诱惑下，威利•罗曼的人格出现了分裂，徘徊在真我和假我之间。他不仅对自己抱有幻想，对他的两个儿子也是抱有不可能达到的期望。在这一章揭示了什么是美国梦以及威利•罗曼对自身及两个儿子的幻想。第三章主要分析了导致威利•罗曼美国梦破灭的原因，首先是因为威利•罗曼的个人原因，而关键还是社会原因导致的，在当时，物质的繁荣渐渐摧毁了给人以温情的传统观念，人和人之间的关系变成了纯粹的利益关系，金钱和和社会地位成为衡量一切的标准，人的价值不在于自身，完全由外界的承认和评价决定。在这样一个社会中，不免造成普通人的人格分裂。最后一章对本文的主旨进行了总结，揭示了不惜一切代价的所谓理想追求和具体生活价值的背离，希望给现代人以警示，在追求物质享受的同时不要忽视了人性的温暖。

关键词： 威利•罗曼；美国梦；幻想；悲剧
 
ABSTRACT

Death of a Salesman (1947), Arthur Miller’s masterpiece, concerns the dilemma of a modern man, Willy Loman, in relation to his family and work. The hero finds himself under a pressure from his society and its ethics, tries in vain to relieve himself from the physical and spiritual quandary into which he has fallen and finds release in death. It is a sad version of the American Dream. The play presents the individual agonizing sufferings related to his family and modern American society ethics and values at large.
Though living in a rough world where modern civilization is suffocating, Willy Loman never seems to be aware of that and keeps on dreaming of success and living in illusions and lies. He keeps on dreaming a lot. However, inflated with his false praises, none of his dreams comes to be true. What measures Willy’s kind of success is nothing but material wealth. When tragedy befalls him, he cannot face the fact at all and chooses to end his own life finally. In fact, Willy is just an epitome of hundreds and thousands of ordinary Americans.
The first chapter briefly introduces Arther Miller and his famous works and important achievements. Also Death of a Salesman is introduced together with its literature status. Many scholars have made deep research on this drama and have drawn great results. This chapter summarizes these fruits and lists some examples. Chapter 2 analyzes Willy Loman’s American Dream. In the money-oriented society, Willy dreams to be a successful businessman with traditional values. Being lured by American Dream, Willy Loman’s personality splits, tramping between real self and fake self. He holds illusions not only on himself but also on his two sons. In this chapter, you can find what American Dream is and Willy Loman’s American Dream is displayed. Chapter 3 is mainly about reasons for Willy’s American Dream breaking. There is no doubt that Willy’s personal reasons affect him a lot. But social reasons are crucial. In that era, material prosperity gradually destroys most traditional ideas that make people feel warmth. Money and social status judge everything. In this background, ordinary people’s personality easily goes split. In the last chapter, a conclusion is made to reveal the contradiction between persuing dreams at all costs and real living values. It is expected to warn nowadays not to ignore human warmth when persue success.
   
Keywords: Willy Loman; American Dream; illusion; tragedy